The CDC website recommends treatment options for this illness including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), despite numerous concerns expressed by the patient and medical communities. While we are encouraged by the CDC’s efforts (such as the technical development working group) to address these concerns, these inappropriate CBT references persist even after the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) downgraded CBT in an addendum published in July 2016.3

As a result of this information being communicated by the CDC, between 1 million and 2.5 million patients with ME/CFS are being encouraged to seek mental health treatment options that are unlikely to assist their condition and could even potentially cause harm. This influx of misdirected patients creates additional strain on our mental health care system which is already struggling to accommodate patient needs. It would save our country billions of dollars if patients with ME/CFS were correctly and promptly diagnosed by fully-educated medical professionals and directed into appropriate and robust systems of care instead of into our heavily impacted mental health care system.

As you examine the treatments and services available in the American mental health care system today, please keepin mind the patients with ME/CFS and how a small correction at the CDC can ease the burden on our existing mental health care treatment system.